The special character of Mark's gospel : its subject

The Gospel according to Mark has a character that differs in
certain respects from all the others. Each Gospel, as we have seen,
has its own character; each is occupied with the Person of the Lord
in a different point of view: as a divine Person, the Son of God;
as the Son of man; as the Son of David, the Messiah presented to
the Jews, Emmanuel. But Mark is occupied with none of these
titles. It is the Servant we find here -- and in particular His
service as bearing the word -- the active service of Christ in the
gospel. The glory of His divine Person shows itself, it is true, in
a remarkable manner through His service, and, as it were, in spite
of Himself, so that He avoids its consequences. But still service
is the subject of the book. Doubtless we shall find the character
of His teaching developing itself (and truth consequently shaking
off the Jewish forms under which it had been held), as well as the
account of His death, on which all depended for the establishment
of faith. But that which distinguishes this Gospel is the character
of service and of Servant that is attached to the life of Jesus --
the work that He came to accomplish personally as living on the
earth. On this account the history of His birth is not found in
Mark. It opens with the announcement of the beginning of the
gospel. John the Baptist is the herald, the forerunner, of Him who
brought this good news to man.